When his insults were met with laughter instead of anger, the group realized their comedic potential.Īs time went on, their act evolved from concerts to musical comedy skits. Upon their return, Groucho, irritated at the disruption, started making jokes at the expense of the audience and their town. Encouraged by their vaudevillian uncle and mother, who worked tirelessly as their manager, The Nightingales, as they were known, found some success on the musical stage.Īll that changed one night in 1912 at a vaudeville performance in either Texas or Oklahoma (depending on which of the brothers you ask), when their show was interrupted by the audience members rushing out of the theater when cries came from the street about a runaway mule. After showing early talent for music and singing, the boys made their debut in musical theater in the early 1900s. All born between 18 to Samuel and Minnie Marx, boys Leonard, Adolph, Julius, Milton, and Herbert (better known to the world by their stage names: Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo, and Zeppo) were descended from a family of performers on their mother’s side of the family. Ever heard someone singing about a lady named Lydia who has some tattoos? First heard being sung by Groucho in “At the Circus.” Wonder why someone would use “swordfish” as their password? Another Marx Brothers original.Ĭontrary to what my grandma may have believed, the comedy team eventually known as the Marx Brothers were in fact five Jewish kids of German immigrants from New York City’s Upper East Side. When they rock out to Bohemian Rhapsody in Wayne’s World, the cassette playing in the Mirthmobile is one of the two Queen albums named after Marx Brothers films (A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races). Whenever Bugs Bunny declares “Of course you know this means war!” he’s quoting Groucho. While you may have never sat down and watched one of their movies, their work is so influential that I promise you’ll recognize some of it. As a family of Neapolitan immigrants, Chico was the perpetual household favorite and Little Nonna went to her grave believing not only that he was Italian, but also that Groucho’s mustache was real and Harpo was really a red-haired lunatic who couldn’t speak.
Marx brothers movie#
Ebert saw at the theater was a re-release of 1937’s “A Day at the Races,” and my earliest memory of watching a movie with my dad is sitting down to a well-worn VHS copy of “Animal Crackers.” Watching the Marx Brothers was something of a tradition in my family, going back to when my great-grandmother took her family to see all the original theatrical runs of their films. When it comes to film commentary, the only comparison I feel comfortable making between myself and Roger Ebert is that we were both introduced to the Marx Brothers at a young age by our fathers.
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